The coast did NOT disappoint!

We arrived a little late on Tuesday night for sunset fun. So, Pops and the kids improvised! A little campfire light and a few marshmallows!

It didn't take long for Blossom to decide she was cold and wanted to come inside to bug pester intrude on my own little quiet world of books spend some quality time with mom. How could any mother turn down THAT face standing on the other side of the bannister requesting a lift over and into the warmth of her arms? Hmmmm??? Well, I couldn't - that is for certain!

The big thrill this trip was to enjoy "bare-footing." The sand between the toes and moving away from their feet sent them into peals of laughter. It was good to hear an hour of silly laughter with a background of crashing waves. Sandals were scattered, but fun was HAD!

We haven't quite figured out the best (read WARMest) time to visit the coast and enjoy the water. We have visited many times now, and it seems that if it is sunshiny - late winter or early spring could be the time to visit. You can see here that bud had his jacket on, but that was because he left it on from earlier in the morning and didn't want to forget it. The temp was in the high fifties/low sixties but cloudy. The girls were running around and were plenty warm in their sleeves up t-shits. I am so puzzled by the coastal weather patterns! It was COLD when we visited in July!!!

We don't go too many places without our beauty of a beast. She makes us feel at home wherever we are. There are only a few places where she doesn't seem to be welcome to come along for the ride. So, we take her anytime we can. (Check out all that gray!! She used to have a completely black muzzle! Now, she is speckled with all that gray. Her eighth birthday is coming up!!)

After we were done on the southern end of the coast, we headed up the coast highway for a few stops and made our way to one of my favorite beaches in Bandon. This time Bud found a mussel covered in barnacles! He was so proud of it! (Yes, we brought it home and is in our ocean garden space.)

Pops took care of a little business after-hours - what did people do before BlackBerry?  

The kids enjoyed diggin and playing in a little bit of sand as the sun set.

I enjoyed the colors of the sunset over the oceanscape. This is Face Rock at Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint. The first time we visited, I had a very hard time finding the "face." Do you see it? She is lovely!! Next time I will take a picture of the artist's rendering of her beauty instead of so much ROCK! The rock, however, is so much more amazing than a pencil drawing!